Lady Cougars finish 4th at state meet in Selma

SELMA — Seventh period track practice and decent weather were the difference makers as Escambia Academy’s boys won the Alabama Independent School Association’s Class 3A state championship last Thursday at Ralph “Shug” Jordan Memorial Stadium.

The Lady Cougars track team finished in fourth place.

EA junior Kris Brown beat two state records — one his own — in the 100-meter dash, running a finals time of 10.72 seconds. During the preliminaries on Wednesday, Brown beat a 29-year-old record in the event with a time of 10.76 seconds.

Brown, who was named the male Most Valuable Player at the meet, said everything was clicking, including the weather, which threatened rain all day.

“Today, I as blessed that we had good weather,” Brown said. “It really didn’t mess up what we did in our running. The wind was blowing in our favor. The track stayed dry.”

The boys also broke a state record in the 4×100 meter relay, finishing the event in 44.92 seconds.

“They came up here and did what we were expecting them to do,” EA track coach Hugh Fountain said. “You want them to be able to perform at the best level at the state meet,” he said. “We broke a state record in the 4×100 and 100-meter dash. We’re proud to get those records, and really, I thought everybody performed well.”

Fountain said what he loved the most about the team is that everybody competed against each other.

“That’s what made them better,” he said.

Fountain said things started turning around during spring break, when the Cougars went to Jay, Fla., for a meet.

“I was beginning to get a sense that we probably have a really special team,” he said.

Escambia Academy’s Mikayla Spruill was named co-female MVP with Tuscaloosa Academy’s Kalin Burt. This is Spruill’s fourth straight year to earn MVP honors at the state meet.

Spruill said getting MVP honors this year was a big goal.

“Whenever I got it my ninth grade year, it was a shock because I wasn’t really working toward it,” she said. “I was just running. In my 10th grade year, it was really a shock, too. Last year, we started to really work toward it. I had a bunch of competition, too, with a girl from Lee-Scott. This year, it was really me and Kalin.”

Spruill said her best event is hurdles, and it started clicking for her during her eighth and ninth grade years.

“There’s really a lot to hurdles,” she said. “You have to have your leg out to the side, and all the time while I’m running, I just hear (EA girls track coach David) Walker yelling, ‘run!’”

 

Full state track and field results are below for EA:

• Boys 4×200-meter relay — Kharles Brown, Louie Turner, Ryan Johnson and Kainoa Gumapac, first place (1 minute, 36.82 seconds)

• Girls 4×800-meter relay — Jessica Franco, Sarah McGill, Melissa Wilson and Pia Gorme, seventh place (14:28.97)

• Boys 4×800-meter relay — Jace Daniels, David Dobson, Tony Williams and Gary Campbell, second place (9:33.27)

• Girls 100-meter hurdles — Mikayla Spruill, first place (16.49 seconds) and Kaile Gumapac, fourth place (19.25 seconds)

• Boys 110-meter hurdles — Fred Flavors, first place (17.05 seconds); Kainoa Gumapac, third place (18.22 seconds); and Turner, fifth place (18.82 seconds)

• Boys 100-meter dash — Kris Brown, first place (10.72 seconds) and Patrick McGhee, fourth place (11.26 seconds)

• Girls 1,600-meter run — Rylee Huskey, 15th place (8:28.04)

• Boys 400-meter dash — Kris Brown, first place (52.55 seconds) and McGhee, second place (53 seconds)

• Girls 300-meter hurdles — Spruill, first place (51.52 seconds) and Kaile Gumapac, seventh place (55.89 seconds)

• Boys 300-meter hurdles — Kainoa Gumapac, first place (44.76 seconds); Flavors, second place (45.21 seconds); and Turner, fourth place (46.58 seconds)

• Boys 800-meter run — Gary Campbell, second place (2:20.67); and Daniels, third place (2:22.02)

• Boys 200-meter dash — Kris Brown, first place (22.86 seconds)

• Boys 3,200-meter run — Jackson Bonner, first place (11:51.89); and David Dobson, second place (12:06.54)

• Girls 4×400-meter relay — Madelyn Smith, Melissa Wilson, Pia Gorme and Mary Thompson Lancaster, seventh place (5:21.04)

• Boys 4×400-meter relay — Gary Campbell, Jace Daniels, Ryan Johnson and Bradley Campbell, second place (3:54.83)

• Girls shot put — Cassidy Murphy, sixth place (26.09 feet)

• Girls discus throw — Melissa Wilson, fifth place (73.10 feet)

• Boys discus throw — Chris Brown, sixth place (98.5 feet)

• Girls long jump — Spruill, second place (15.01 feet)

• Boys long jump — Flavors, fourth place (19.02 feet); McGhee, fifth place (18.10); and Kainoa Gumapac, eighth place (18.01.25 feet)

• Girls triple jump — Spruill, second place (32 feet, 0.50 inches)

• Boys triple jump — Kainoa Gumapac, first place (39 feet, 04.00 inches); McGhee, third place (38 feet, 10.50 inches); and Kris Brown, fourth place (38 feet, 6 inches)